Europe is testing ground as Borthwick looks for Six Nations winning blend

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With Alex Mitchell back at scrum-half, England could turn opener in Dublin into start of successful campaign

Maybe Elon Musk is the man to revive English rugby union. He already believes he has the solutions to most of the universe's biggest problems so reforming a mere sports team should be a piece of futuristic cake. Throw £40bn at it, take over the comms department and stick the Rugby Football Union's finest on a rocket ship to Mars? It's an easy game, megalomania.

Back in the real world, of course, nothing is ever quite that straightforward. Even AI cannot identify why England keep struggling to maximise their resources because there is no one simple explanation. As Steve Borthwick prepares to unveil his Six Nations squad on Tuesday, it is again less about the individuals per se than finding the right blend to enable the collective to flourish.